Trap.



M. LSLoAN.

TRAP' MIPLICATION FILED MAR. 1917.

1,937,399. PatentedAug. 2l, 1917.

^ Uivrrnn srAr is Par yiulir'rnnw J.y siioiiiv,y or linen CREEK,FLORIDA.

TRA?.

To all fio/wm t may concern.'

\ Be` it known that I, MATTHEW Jr SLoAN, a' citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at .Arch Creek, in the county. yofDade and State ofFlorida, have invented .certain new and useful.:Improvements in Traps;andI do hereby declare the following. to be a full, clear, andexactdescription of the invention, suchfas will enable others, skilledin the art to which it appertains to malte `and use the same.` A f. y. 4i This invention relates totraps and the Aprincipal objectof theinvention isjtok provide a trap which will be equally effective incatching eitheixbirds, fowls oranimals.

fA further object ,ofthe invention is to provide a trap wihereiiitheside walls are converged i inwardly and provided with prongs at theirinner edges, suitable. ten

"sioning means beingprovidedwhereby when the victim has once enteredthetrap,y the inwardly converging portions of the side walls willbe urgedtogether" to` substantially close the entrance to the trap, the prongs.preventing egress of the victim. y

A still further object of thelinvention is tol provide means for varyingthe size of the entrance opening and `further providing means forlimiting the opening and clos-L ingrmovements of the lower portions ofthe wings in each adjusted` portion. y n y Vith these and `other objectsin view as will appear' as the description proceeds, the

invention comprises the various novel fea-` tures of construction,combination and arrangement of parts as will be more ,fully described'hereinafter and'set forth `with particularity in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my novel construction of trap; n

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 3,and

Fig.` 3 is a vertical sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig.k 2. yi

Similar characters of reference are used to denote like parts throughoutthe following y description andr the accompanying drawings. l y

`Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen thatI havein this instance shown the trap to be of circular for mation, but Idesire to khave it understood that -thetrap may be of any 'desired shapeor ldesign found desirable'and best suited fortlie purpose intended.,The reference numerals 1 and 2 represent the top and bottom of the traprespectively,

while the numeral 3 kindicates the verticaly side walls of the trap, thetop being provided with a door il thatis hingedly con-y nected to thetop as at 5 and is designed to be secured by a suitable catch 6.

The side walls 3 are converged inwardly to .provide a pair of wings 7that are securely attached together at their upper edges and tothe top 1byy suitable fastening means 8@ The inner upright-.edges of the wings 7Ldiverge downwardly from thetop to the bottom so as to provide anentrance opening for the victim. n

In order that the wings be held subl-rr Nr onnicn.

p specification of Letters Patent. Pawnee@ Aug 21, 1917 i i i lkiippiimion tied March 17, 1917. serial No. 155,398.

stantially closed, I provide resilient rein- ,V

'forcing stays 9 that" are arranged longitudirnally of the wings andhavetheir outer ends flexed around into engagement with the side wallsB,these outer terminal. ends being securely attached to the side walls byvsuitable fastening means 10, while the y inner ends of the stays aresharpened as indicated by the numeral 11. By,` flexing the outer ends ofthe stay wires around into engagement with the side walls of the trap, asufficient amount of tension is placed upon ythe wings so as to urgethem together the full limit of their' movement. By this construction itwill be apparent that a small bird, fowl or animal may enter the trapben y tween the wings 7, the wings being forced apart sufficiently topermit of his entrance, while the resilient stay wires serve toimmediately bring the wings together or toward each other, while-thesharpened ends 11 will prevent any attempted egress of the victim. i y

Mounted upon and securely attached to the bottom 2 is a bar or wire rod12, which y is provided intermediate its end with a plurality of spacedupright arms 13 between which are designed to' be positioned the lowerfree edges of the wings. As shown the wingsr are positioned between thecentral` pair of upright arms 13, and should the entrance opening bedesired to be slightly increased so as to permit of the entrance of alarger size victim, the lower edges of the wings are lifted up andplaced over between the next outer pair of arins.v Each pair of arms isspaced apart just suiiiciently permit of the entrance of the desiredsize victim.

I/Vhile I have shown the trap constructed of wire mesh, it is to beunderstood that it may be made of any other material found desirable andsuited lfor the purpose.

That I claim is f 1. A trap comprising a top, bottom and side walls,said side walls being converged inwardly to provide a pair of wings,means forv securing the upper ledges of said wings together and to theitop, the inner yupright edges of said wings divergin'g downwardly, andmeans for e'xertingfan inward tension on the lower free portions of saidwings.

'2. A trap comprising a top, bottom and side walls, said side wallsbeing converged inwardly to lprovide a pair oil wings, means forsecuring the upper 4edges of said wings together and Lto the top, theinner upright edges "of said wings 'divergin'g downwardly, means forexerting `an inward tension 'on the lower free' portions offsaid win-gs,means fo'r limiting the 'opening Aand closing movements of said wings.

'3: A trap comprising a top, bottom and side wfalls,'said side wallsbeing converged inwardly to .provide a pair lof wings, means forsecuring vthe upper iedges of said wings varying the size of theentrance opening between said wings.

4. A trap comprising a top, bottom and side walls, said side walls beingconverged inwardly to provide a pair of wings, means for securing theupper edges of said wings together and to the top7 resilient stay wiresattached -lto and arranged longitudinally of each wing, the outer freeends of said wires beingexed around into engagement with the side walls,Yineairs for attaching 'the outer free ends "to ysaid r`side walls, andmeans for varying ftl'ie `*size of the entrance opening between saidwings.

5. A "trap 'comprising a top, 'bottom and sidewalls, said side wallsbeing converged inwardly Eto provide a pair of wings, means for securingthe upper edges of said wings together and to 'the top, te'nsioned staywires carried by each wing and attached to the side walls, the innerfree ends of said 'wi-res being sharpened, and means for varying theentrance opening 'betvveen said wings.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specication in thepresence of 'two subscribing witnesses.

MATTHEW J. SLOAN. Witnesses:

E. R. BRION, A. ySnonn.

k(opies of @this patent may 'be obtained for ive cents each,` `cfyaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. C.

